Anti-Muslim filmmaker jailed over fraud

Date: November 10 2012

The man behind an anti-Muslim film that led to violence across the globe has been sentenced to a year in prison for probation violations in an unrelated matter, then issued a provocative statement through his lawyer.

The sentence on Wednesday was the result of a plea bargain between lawyers for Mark Basseley Youssef and US prosecutors.

Youssef admitted in court that he had used several false names in violation of his probation order and obtained a driver's licence under a false name. He was on probation for a bank fraud case.

Soon after he left the courtroom, his lawyer, Steven Seiden, came to the front steps of the courthouse and said his client wanted to send a message.

''The one thing he wanted me to tell all of you is President Obama may have gotten Osama bin Laden, but he didn't kill the ideology,'' Mr Seiden said. Asked what that meant, Mr Seiden said: ''I didn't ask him, and I don't know.''

US District Court judge Christina Snyder accepted the plea agreement and immediately sentenced Youssef after he admitted four of the eight alleged violations, including obtaining a fraudulent California driver's licence.